JBASHORUN -> TAKING FLAMENCO GUITAR LESSONS (Jan. 31 2005 11:29:58)
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Hello again everyone, Firstly, I'd like to thank Jon Boyes, Miguel De Maria, Anders, Patrick Escribano and everyone elso who contributed advice to my previous posts. Your help is greatly appreciated, as I know very little about Flamenco guitars! My new question is this... should I seek guitar lessons from a proper Flamenco guitarist, or stick with my current teacher? My current teacher is not an expert in Flamenco guitar. He specialises in Classical guitar (and electric), but says he has taught a little bit of Flamenco in his time. He is familiar with a few Flamenco techniques, and I'd say he's pretty good at tremolo picking (as it is also used in Classical guitar). However, he doesn't claim to be able to do things like the Rasgueado. I have purchased a couple of tutor books (Mel Bay's "Flamenco Guitar: Basic Techniques" and "Flamenco Guitar Method for Beginners" by Anita Sheer and Harry Berlow), and these seem to be fairly good books for a beginner, and my tutor is happy to go through them with me. I also have the "Play Flamenco Guitar with Juan Martin" book and DVD, but tellingly, the title is "PLAY" not "LEARN", and the lack of detail on technique makes it a bit beyond my level. My other option is to take lessons specifically in Flamenco technique at The Spanish Guitar Centre in central London. I spoke to the guy there, and he was like... "you should learn from the best" and "we have several proper Flamenco guitarists here". But then perhaps he would say that, as everyone's keen to make money these days. My current teacher says that I "probably wouldn't learn anything in the first 2 years" [or so] that he couldn't teach me himself, "even from a professional Flamenco guitarist", and that "after about 2 years, maybe then I might want to seek a professional teacher". But maybe he would say that too, for the same reasons as the other dude. I feel I should mention that the 2 lessons (current teacher or Flamenco teacher) are approximately the same price. Also that I am a complete beginner when it comes to Flamenco technique. If anyone has an informed opinion or some general advice, I'd be interested to hear it. Thanks. James
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